I have had some reports and have witnessed it once for myself - it seems the 08 Airush DNA is prone to excessive wearing where the batten meets the leading edge. It seems the raised stiching rubs on the leading edge and causes fraying. This causes a weak spot that can explode if the kite slams into the water. I live near a kite school that uses these (it happened whilst I was there demoing the 08 Flow). They have had this happen a few times. I know training kites take a beating but has anyone else heard of this? If so, is it only the 12s that are prone to it?
Cheers.
The DNA would have to be the ugliest kite I have ever seen.
The leading edge is soooo fat,
........................................{insert joke punchline here}
lol.
Hi Laurie,
We have been using the 08 DNA's since October 2007 and they have stood up well to school wear and tear. Our school is the ultimate testing ground for kite and bar durability. Our kites are used for about 6-7 hours per day, every windy day, and usually in bright sunny and windy conditions.
Considering they are used by beginners all day every day. We do three lessons a day and teach self launch and many other techniques which involve the kite scraping along the sand on the leading edge and crashing on the beach, (usually with bar let go), and most particularly, at the points where the second, third and fourth leading edge segments join each other seems to be where they wear most.
We have found a small issue with the 12m and 9m kites. The stitching on the leading edge circumferential joins seems to protrude from behind the canopy and when the canopy is dragged over the sand, it point loads against the stitching and has caused some small perforations in line with the stitching from abrasion. If the perforations are left unchecked and the kite crashed hard fully powered, there is a chance the kite can tear badly. This has only happened to one of our kites, we keep an eye on all our kites now and have made a simple modification to prevent further mishaps.
Neil Taylor of Hold the Line Kites has been cutting out and stitching on little black dacron abrasion pads on the known wear points which has solved the problem. It costs ~$15 dollars for all 6 patches and takes around 15 minutes of Neils time.
A privately owned DNA receiving far less abuse than our kites is much less likely to develop these issues, however, it is such an easy fix that it isn't a worry. You should inspect your kite every time you rig it in any case as even a 1/2 inch tear in the canopy that goes unnoticed can lead to catastrophic failure.
This issue aside, we have been really pleased with the quality of this years DNA's. They are holding up MUCH better than our previous DNA's which were all replaced at about this time last year as the canopy material along the trailing edge was looking a little shabby and becoming weaker. This years kites still look really great and we probably wont need to replace the kites until the end of the season at this rate.
Please feel free to contact me if you want any further information.
On a side note, I rode the 6m DNA with the 6'0" Converse out to the island today to whack some waves and it was awesome, so fast and grunty, super stable and easy to ride, makes kitesurfing real easy! No better kite for wave riding!
Good winds,
Ok, thanks for the detailed reply Darren. I figured that would be the case, i.e. the extended use at the kite school. When I saw it for myself that day, the instructor said it had happened before as well, that's why I said it had happened a few times to you. Sorry if the post was misleading.
Cheers again.
